Sean Cronin insists a Lions place is within his grasp - although he must sit out a crucial chunk of the season.

Cronin is resigned to missing the next 10 weeks with a significant grade two hamstring injury. The stakes are hotting up in terms of selection for the Lions tour to New Zealand in the summer.

But the 30-year-old stresses that not even the prospect of a 6 Nations championship decider against England in Dublin on St Patrick's Day will prompt him to return before he is absolutely ready.

“I was kind of a realist when I woke up on the Saturday morning (after the Zebre game)," said Cronin. "It was quite sore.

"It’s never a good sign if you can’t get up off the toilet too freely!

“I knew I was in a bit of trouble. Realistically, it wasn’t going to be a two-or-three weeks injury, maybe three if I was being positive about it.

“I knew I was out for the two Champions Cup games.

“If you’re not in the mix for those, you’re putting yourself out of the mix for other things - the Irish selection and stuff.

"It would be great to have that (the England game) in my mind as a target to make, but I have to be realistic as well that it would be well into the championships at that stage and hopefully they'll be going well.

"The main focus is just getting it right because I've been warned a couple of times by the doctor and physios that there's such a high rate of re-injuring the type of tear that I had.

Sean Cronin of Leinster scores a try (Image: INPHO/Dan Sheridan)

“It was doom and gloom for a couple of days, but you get over it pretty quick. “I want to be firing on all cylinders rather than risking coming back too early.

"I need to watch myself now and make sure when I come back everything's moving on nicely and I'm feeling good.

"I'm probably at the latter end of my career and need to watch myself, and make sure I'm right to come back.

"There's still hopefully two and a half months of the season left for me to hopefully have a good go at."

Cronin isn't afraid to admit that the Lions trip headed up by Warren Gatland is in his thoughts.

On paper it looks difficult for him to make the cut because hookers Rory Best and Dylan Hartley are among the favourites to captain the squad against the All Blacks.

But the Limerick native reckons he offers something different.

Cronin's pace and power make him a different kind of player than Best and Hartley, and he's hoping that can convince Gatland to take a punt on him.

“I would back myself," he said. "I think I offer something different, in terms of the way they'll pick the squad, off the bench and going to New Zealand, the type of games they could be down there.

“I thought I was playing well enough to put myself in the frame - definitely for the short list.

“I still think there’s an opportunity. The 6 Nations, obviously, has a huge bearing on whose going to go on that tour. “They're the elite games and the guys that play well in elite games are the frontrunners.

“But if he’s looking for something outside of the box, someone that’s going to bring something different, I think I'm one of the best around to do that.

“Hopefully, that can keep me in the reckoning.” Cronin confides that Lions selection talk is happening in the Ireland camp ahead of the 6 Nations.

"I won't name names but when you get talking to a couple of lads, you can see that they want to play well for Ireland.

"They know if they do that, they'll be in the shop window for Lions selection - especially guys who have not been on it before, they're really looking to get on that plane.

"It's still a massive carrot for a lot of the guys, to have that accolade of playing for the Lions."